


All My Tentacles Move in (One Direction)

by beckaandzac (becka)



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Group Sex, M/M, Multi, Tentacle Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-28
Updated: 2013-04-28
Packaged: 2017-12-09 18:47:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/776790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/becka/pseuds/beckaandzac
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When they find out that an age-old family curse causes Zayn to grow tentacles, the rest of One Direction work together to help him deal with his slimy little problem in the sexiest way possible. Non-AU (except for the tentacles) set during the Judges' Houses phase of X Factor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All My Tentacles Move in (One Direction)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Tentacle Big Bang](http://tentaclebigbang.livejournal.com/). Fabulous [art](http://infatuated-ink.livejournal.com/83655.html) by the long-suffering and super-quick [cherie_morte](http://cherie-morte.livejournal.com/), who also provided the genius premise of this entire ridiculous story. Thanks to [unavoidedcrisis](http://unavoidedcrisis.livejournal.com/) for the title. And deepest thanks to [rivers_bend](http://archiveofourown.org/users/rivers_bend) for the last-minute beta. You are all rock stars. <33
> 
> Disclaimer: Although it contains a fully plausible explanation why Zayn never learned to swim, this story is entirely fictional.

Zayn told them all on the first day that he couldn’t swim, that he’d never learned and it wasn’t a big deal but he wasn’t really keen on going into big bodies of water, or even pools that come up higher than his waist. He always feels as though the water’s beckoning him, tugging at him, trying to pull him under, and the few times his family went to the sea when he was younger, he stayed well out of the surf, holding his little sisters’ hands to keep them safe. But the irony is, he actually likes being around the sea, finds the sound of it soothing when it isn’t trying to drag him in.

That’s probably why he follows the other lads down to the beach the first night of judges houses. Harry and Louis are out in front, arm in arm already, and Harry has a torch that he keeps pointed down at their feet as they walk. Zayn walks with Niall behind them, Liam in the rear looking back frantically every time the wind rustles the trees. They’re all whispering, clowning, feet sinking into the soft sand, rocks biting at their bare toes. It’s not cold, it’s possible it never actually gets cold in Spain, but Zayn’s in his hoodie anyway, chin tucked down where he can still smell his mum’s fabric softener on it.

Louis breaks away from Harry and runs towards the surf, splashing into the last edge of a wave as it recedes from shore. Harry’s laughing, watching him from a few paces back as Louis beckons them all in with a broad wave of his arm. “Come on, lads,” he says, loud enough that Zayn wonders if he cares at all about getting them in trouble, even though Zayn doesn’t think they’d get kicked off the show for something like this.

Niall starts to roll up his trouser legs, but Harry’s working open his flies. “No,” Harry says, shaking his head at Niall, “let’s do this properly. Skinny dipping is the only thing to do if you’re already sneaking out in the middle of the night.”

Liam’s eyebrows go straight up. “I didn’t think we were actually going in the water much. I could have worn my trunks.”

Harry is down to his pants already, but he slings his arm around Liam’s neck and grins. “I’m sure you’ve got nothing to be ashamed of, mate.”

Zayn hangs back, unconcerned about being naked, but hesitant at the thought that they’d go deep enough into the sea that he’d need to do more than roll up his trouser legs.

Louis pads over to him, the button on his shorts undone, his top tangled in a pile with Harry’s clothes. “You know salt water makes you float, don’t you?” he says, jogging his elbow against Zayn’s in a friendly way.

Zayn shrugs. People drown in the sea all the time. Floating obviously isn’t foolproof. “Maybe I’d rather just watch,” he replies.

Louis slides an arm around his waist and settles his chin on Zayn’s shoulder. “What if I promised to hang onto you?”

Zayn leans into Louis without quite meaning to, hums like he’s considering it. And Louis just snugs up behind him and sways a little. He’s not making a great case for himself. Zayn’s about to get hard if he keeps that up, and if that happens, there’s no way in hell he’s getting his kit off in front of the rest of the lads.

Looking around Louis he can see Harry and Niall trying to convince Liam they won’t get in _more_ trouble if they’re found out here naked than clothed. Liam is hemming and hawing but his eyes are starting to crinkle into a smile, and Zayn can tell he’s going to give in. Which leaves him the only holdout.

Lightning quick, Louis pulls down the zip on Zayn’s hoodie, leaving it hanging open. “Better,” he says decisively and starts tugging at the sides of the fabric, making a little dance out of it. “It’s a bonding experience for our group.”

“I’m not a big fan of bonding experiences,” says Zayn, but Louis’s grin is contagious. He shrugs Louis off and pulls his t-shirt over his head. Louis whoops loudly enough to make Liam shush him.

Zayn realizes that even though Harry’s naked, the rest of them have still got their pants on, which seems a little less awkward than all of them splashing about with their willies hanging out. Harry, Zayn has already learned, would probably be naked regardless.

When Niall and Harry take off running into the water, Liam and Louis hang back with him. “All right, Zayn?” Liam asks. “You said you don’t know how to swim, right?”

“Yeah,” says Zayn. He’s not afraid or anything exactly, but it feels as though the water is waiting for him, luring him, and he can’t shake it off.

“We won’t let you drown,” Louis says stoutly, and he takes one of Zayn’s hands, prompting Liam to take the other. And then hand in hand they walk into the sea.

They’re just walking, one foot in front of the other, the water lapping at Zayn’s ankles while the sand sucks at his feet. He can feel the slight downward slope of the beach, and the saltwater makes his skin tingle. Harry’s whining that it’s cold, but it doesn’t feel cold to Zayn. From his knees down, it’s like being in a cooling bath, warmth still lapping at his skin.

They keep going until the water is at waist height, and the tingling spreads too. Zayn’s quite sure he’s never been this deep in the sea before, and it feels almost dangerous, almost like a chance he shouldn’t take. The other lads are splashing each other and laughing, and Louis looks to Liam and then lets go of Zayn’s hand with a final squeeze. They’ve walked far enough out now that the little waves bounce Zayn on his feet a bit, and he has to dig his toes into the shifting sand to keep contact. Liam looks to him before taking another step forward. The other lads are paddling around each other to their left, a bit farther out, and Zayn watches them hesitantly, knowing he won’t go out that far. Imagining the swooping, rollercoaster feeling of the water catching him up makes him shiver.

The water starts to recede, and when Zayn looks out to sea, he can see the hungry shadow of a bigger wave looming. Harry is swimming towards it, welcoming it with open arms, but Louis is looking back towards him and Liam is squeezing his hand. Zayn’s chest clenches with sudden fear, and he tries to scramble backwards, but the sand is already shifting away under his feet, and he stumbles, falls back just as the wave hits. He takes a last gasping breath before the water pulls him under, but Liam’s still got hold of him, so he’s fine. He tries to tell himself he’s fine. The wave crashes over Zayn’s head, and suddenly everything changes.

He feels something shiver across his hips and along his legs, like the tingling from before, but painful, like waves of energy are trying to break him apart. He’d been digging his heels into the sand, trying to push himself back to shore, but suddenly it’s as though he has no heels. The lower half of his body feels liquid, and the sensation of water moving against his skin is suddenly nearly unbearable, like he’s nothing but nerve endings.

Liam’s dragging him by the shoulders onto the beach, and Zayn gulps in air again, light-headed. But then Liam gasps and drops him on the sand, and Zayn can see the other boys stood nearby staring as well. “Jesus Christ,” says Niall.

“What the fuck, Zayn?” adds Louis.

And when Zayn looks down, he can see why. Where his legs usually are, where his legs really fucking should be, is a mass of tangled black tentacles. He tries to squirm farther up the beach, away from the water, and they wiggle a little, pushing against the sand reflexively. Zayn thinks he might be sick. He claws frantically up the beach, shuts his eyes so he doesn’t have to see the tentacles rippling. There’s a long, stunned silence.

“Has this happened to you before?” Liam asks softly, and Zayn realizes Liam’s knelt next to him, reaching for his hand again.

“No, it bloody well hasn’t,” Zayn replies, and his voice is shaking. He can feel his tentacles scraping in the sand, and they’re still so oversensitive that every little movement makes his breath go short.

“So you don’t usually turn into Ursula the sea-witch when you go into the water?” Harry asks, and Zayn would think Harry was laughing at him, but Harry’s face is perfectly serious.

“I don’t usually go into the water.” One of his tentacles flexes in the air in irritation, and they all stare at it. Zayn thumps his head back onto the sand. He doesn’t want to see any more.

“What do we do?” says Niall, panic in his voice. Until tonight, Zayn would have said Niall never panicked, which makes it all the scarier.

“No fucking clue,” says Zayn, dragging his hands over his face, which only gives him a mouthful of sand. 

“We wait,” says Louis sternly, the steel in his voice cutting through all their worry and confusion. “We wait and see if Zayn changes back, and if he does, we tell no one this even happened.”

The fact that Louis even has to say “if” is about the most terrifying thing Zayn can imagine right now. He can feel his tentacles moving, sliding against each other, realizes he can make them flex at the tips if he concentrates, like moving a foot that’s fallen asleep. But maybe if he moves them it will take even longer for him to change back, so then he tries to hold still.

“Maybe if we dry him off,” suggests Liam, “he’ll change back faster?” No one has any better idea, given that none of them and possibly no one in the world has ever experienced anything like this before. So they all grab their clothes to rub him down, hesitating.

“They’re… you control them, right?” says Harry. “They’re not like, going to reach out and strangle us?” He doesn’t seem terribly concerned at this prospect, more like he’s gathering information.

Zayn shakes his head, glances at his tentacles again. “I think I control them. So I think you’re safe. Unless I want to strangle you.”

Harry is the first to touch him then, patting his t-shirt against Zayn’s hip, where the skin starts to darken and go slick as the tentacles sprout. It’s not a sudden change, not a line like a mermaid in a film. His skin starts going mottled and hairless just below his bellybutton, little splotches of black mixing in, until the tentacles begin to spread, smooth and rubbery, from the cut of his hips. He doesn’t touch them himself, feels a little as though he’s been sawn in half, so much of himself just gone unrecognizable.

Harry’s hand slides down, feeling along the length of one of the tentacles, and Zayn gasps and tries to squirm away. It’s too much, raw sensation, and he can’t process it. It’s like, god, it’s like someone touching his dick, another thing he doesn’t have anymore. His tentacles are all waving now, and the one beneath Harry’s hands starts to curl towards him, the pointed tip tickling at his arm. Zayn manages to make it stop, horrified at himself, but Harry’s grinning.

“I know you’re really, really freaked out right now,” Harry says, “and I don’t blame you. But this is really cool, mate.”

Zayn takes another shaky breath. Harry’s still touching him, gone still with the t-shirt, watching Zayn’s tentacles wriggle in agitation. He’s turned on, he realizes, actually turned on, and it’s weird without a dick at the center of it, but Zayn is well familiar with the swooping feeling in his stomach.

Louis kneels down on his other side, following Harry’s lead and taking one of Zayn’s tentacles in his hands, stroking it with Zayn’s fallen hoodie. The sensation doubles, and he fucking whimpers this time with how good it feels. He starts to wonder how sea monsters come because he feels so close right now, his tentacles flailing against the sand. He needs to get dry; the lads are right that if these things are going to go away, that’s the best way to make them do it. But he’s not sure he can handle that much sensation.

“Does it hurt?” Niall asks, kneeling at Zayn’s shoulder. “You sort of look like you might be hurting.”

“No,” Zayn gasps, as Liam joins in down below, patting at Zayn gently, working his dry shirt all the way down to the tips of Zayn’s tentacles.

“What’s it feel like then?” Louis asks, still stroking with long, easy motions.

Zayn debates just not answering, but between the three of them basically giving him the most intense handjob of his life, and Niall petting his hair while they do it, he doesn’t feel like he can really lie to them. “Sex,” he whispers, Liam leaning in to hear better. “It feels like sex.”

Liam gives a little gasp and goes pink in a second, and Niall pauses in stroking his hair. Louis and Harry are just staring blank-faced at him. Zayn tries to feel properly embarrassed, but fuck it, he’s got tentacles and the rest of them have their hands all over them. It’s not his fault it feels like this.

“Should we stop?” asks Harry.

Zayn sighs as another wave of pleasure comes over him. “If you want to. But if it’s the only way for me to change back, it’ll take longer for me to do it myself.”

“We wouldn’t leave you like that,” says Louis fiercely. “Would we, lads?”

The rest of them shake their heads. Zayn’s grateful to them. He’s only known these boys for a few weeks, and already they’re helping him with the weirdest, most embarrassing problem he’s ever had. “Thanks,” he says simply.

They work him over with their clothes in hand, patting at him, and Zayn feels constantly on edge during, like he wants to come but he doesn’t even bloody know how with his body as it is. After a while, the tingling starts to come back, the sort he’d felt in the water earlier, spreading up along the length of his tentacles. “Think it’s working,” he gasps out in relief, and after a moment he can see the skin of his stomach going back to its normal color, and his hipbones reappear, followed by the tops of his thighs as the tentacles twist back together into the shape of his legs. It happens more slowly this way than the other, and the other lads stare as it happens, held still and silent.

Finally, finally Zayn’s legs are back entirely, and he wiggles his toes just to be sure. He can feel the sand underneath him, and all the better because he’s now stark naked. And still turned on. His perfectly normal, perfectly human dick is now standing straight up from his lap, and god, he needs a wank. But he’s not sure how to say that with all the rest of them watching.

Then Louis reaches in and puts a hand on his thigh. “Need a hand, mate?” he asks, and Zayn’s never had another boy’s hand on his dick before, but he needs it much too badly to say no. He nods, and Louis wraps him in a slightly damp hand, stroking gently but firmly until Zayn has to arch up into him to get him to go faster. His hips buck as Louis squeezes a little and a moan is dragged out of Zayn’s throat. He’s relieved that he’s back to normal and he’s still as bloody turned on as he’s ever been in his life. He can see Niall palming at his dick through his pants, and it’s obvious that Harry’s hard too, since he’s still naked. His dick is huge, bigger than Zayn expected, not that he’s thought a lot about the size of other boys’ dicks before, and Harry is pulling at it absently. He can’t see much of Liam, down by his feet, but he wouldn’t be surprised if Liam were wanking as well.

Louis licks his lips and starts stroking faster at Zayn’s cock. It doesn’t take long before Zayn is coming all over his belly and Louis’s fingers, gasping and rocking into Louis’s final upward stroke. Louis immediately turns his hand to himself, gets it into his pants, still wet with Zayn’s come. Zayn watches them all touching themselves, still feeling dazed and loose, and it’s almost funny. Better bonding activity than skinny-dipping, almost certainly.

Niall groans when he comes, cupping his hand over the tip of his cock like he’s used to worrying about a mess. Harry takes whimpery little breaths as he strokes himself, his face scrunching up so he looks even younger. Liam and Louis are quiet though, and Zayn wonders if their walls at home were as thin as his, if they were as used to being barged in on by mums and sisters as he was. When Zayn looks up again, he realizes Louis’s watching him, splayed out in the sand, his hand moving slow even though the others have had a head start. Zayn can just see the head of Louis’s cock poking through his fist, pink and smeared wet, maybe with Zayn’s own come, and the thought makes him shiver, makes his skin tingle, but not like before. He’s thinking about putting his mouth on Louis’s cock before he can help it, licking his lips, and he wonders if Louis knows because he leans in a little closer, starts wanking a little more quickly. Harry’s torch is off to Louis’s right, dropped uselessly in the sand but casting a scattered glow across all five of them, Zayn limp and the others with their hands on their dicks.

Harry shoves a knuckle into his mouth and bites down hard as he comes, like he would scream if he could, but he won’t let himself. Zayn’s not even sure when Liam comes, just that one moment he can see the jog of his elbow and the next time he looks, it’s stopped. Louis is last, holding out for the longest, and Zayn can’t stop watching him, the way Louis goes tense and closes his eyes like he’s going to come, then slows, pulls himself back from the edge and keeps going. Zayn realizes they’re all looking now, all watching Louis get himself off.

When he finally comes it’s like all of them coming, breathing out and going slack, looking around at each other all sideways like this is the weird, embarrassing part. Not the tentacles or anything else, just looking at each other and knowing they’ve all just come. Louis’s sucking his own fingers, and Zayn thinks that’s really just unfair at this point, nearly obscene.

“This was not exactly what I expected,” Harry says finally because it’s been ages of them just staring awkwardly and someone needs to break the silence.

“Definitely not,” agrees Zayn. Already the tentacles are starting to seem unreal, like some kind of shared hallucination among the five of them. But the come streaked along his belly, the other boys tucking their dicks back into their pants and feeling around for the rest of their clothes in the sand, that’s something Zayn’s going to have to think about.

Niall doesn’t seem to think the tentacles were a hallucination though. “Does anyone else in your family have…” He wiggles his fingers around as though “tentacles” is a naughty word.

“No,” says Zayn, but he has to wonder. How many of his mom’s cousins has he only seen in pictures? How much of his dad’s family is still in Pakistan too far away for him to even speak to? Not that he expects there are a lot of people sprouting tentacles in a landlocked country, but then he didn’t expect it in Spain either. “I didn’t know anything like this could happen.”

“Should we talk to someone about it?” Liam asks tentatively. “We could phone your parents? Or talk to one of the producers?”

The thought of telling a near-stranger about any of this is more mortifying even than wanking with four other lads because he had tentacles that felt like eight dicks at the time. “No,” Zayn says. “No one from the show.” Liam starts to protest, but Zayn just talks over him. “But I’ll ring my mum in the morning, see if she knows about anything like this happening before. Like, ever, to anyone.” Zayn hasn’t been one of those kids who figure their parents hold the secrets to the universe for a while now, but it’s comforting to think that maybe all this won’t go totally unexplained forever.

They walk back up the beach together in a tight little clump, brushing shoulders and elbows and slipping each other sideways smiles. However fucked up things are, they’re in it together now, and that feels better than Zayn would have even expected.

In the morning when he phones his mum and says, “I grew tentacles last night,” she’s silent on the line for ages, long enough that he starts to expect she’s going to say he must be having a nervous breakdown and bring him home. And he doesn’t want that. Especially after last night, the very worst thing would be to leave the lads and the group behind.

“You went in the water, didn’t you?” she says quietly, after Zayn’s crushed dreams have flashed before his eyes multiple times.

“Yeah,” says Zayn, thinking she’s angry at his recklessness. “I got knocked over by a wave. We weren’t in deep or anything.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she says. “All it takes is a moment of immersion.”

And then he knows it’s not about whether or not he can swim. She’s upset because somehow she knows exactly what’s happening.

It’s hard for Zayn to be surprised by anything at this point, but this catches him a little off-guard. On the one hand, his mum knows what to do and how to handle things, and that’s massively comforting. But on the other hand, she let him walk into this whole situation unprepared.

Her explanation is halting, and Zayn keeps looking round cautiously, wondering where the cameras are, knowing he’s having this conversation in a place with no privacy. It’s a curse placed on her family, she says, generations old and mostly harmless, only affecting men, only if they go underwater. They assumed that just never teaching him to swim would keep him safe, unlike her cousin Tony, who eventually killed himself because he couldn’t stand the pressure of not being normal. Zayn’s mum breaks down in tears then, telling him, begging him to learn to handle it, promising that he can control it, and that as long as he stays out of the water, it won’t happen again without him making it. “Will you come home?” she asks in the end.

Zayn thinks about it. He really does, tries to consider the pros and cons carefully. But he can’t imagine quitting now, going home and always knowing that he has this thing inside him, that he’s different in a way no one could possibly understand. “I want to stay,” he tells her. He thinks of the lads gathering around him, staying with him even when none of them knew for sure he wasn’t dangerous. He doesn’t want to lose them now. “Is that all right? I’ll be safe, mum. I’ll be careful. I really will. The other lads will look out for me.”

She sighs. “They were there last night, weren’t they?”

Zayn goes a little hot just thinking about the way they’d been there, about all of their hands on him. “They were. They were there when I needed them.”

“All right,” she says. “All right, you stay. We’re still so, so proud of you for doing this, sweetheart.”

Zayn grins. “Thanks, mum.”

“But you mustn’t tell anyone else, all right? About the curse.”

Zayn nearly laughs at that, can’t imagine saying a word to anyone about having tentacles that turn him into a sex maniac. “I won’t say anything,” he promises. “But mum, you said. You said I could learn to control it somehow. How do I learn to do that?” It’s not exactly that he wants to have it happen again, but now he knows it’s not permanent, he’s more curious than scared.

They have a band meeting in a pile on Louis’s bed, and Zayn tells them all everything his mum said, except the bit about her cousin because that feels secret, and they don’t need to know it. They all nod along as he explains about the curse, going back nearly two centuries, and their eyes go wider and wider, just like his had. But he finishes with, “She said I could learn to control it, and she taught me some things to do, you know, to practice.” He pauses significantly, and sees that Louis gets it, but the rest of them don’t quite. “So I was wondering if you lads could help me.’

Liam looks hesitant, turning darker and darker shades of red until he finally blurts out, “Did your mum say… Is it always sexy like that?”

Zayn bites his lip. She hadn’t said, and he wonders if it’s because she didn’t even know. If it only affected her male relatives, how hard they came after someone stroked their tentacles might not exactly be on the table for discussion. “She didn’t say, but like, she said usually the people in her family usually took care of it by themselves, didn’t ask for a lot of help. So I think that’s probably why.” He looks down at his hands. They haven’t talked about the fact that they all wanked together last night, in amongst everything else, and although he knows that’s something boys sometimes do together, it’s not exactly normal to Zayn.

“But you don’t mind us helping you out?” Niall says, and Zayn glances up, taking in the way he’s said it. Not asking if he wants their help, just thinking about if Zayn might not want them helping. Maybe someone else would, he thinks. Maybe that makes him a freak too, but in this case, he guesses he’s a freak same as Niall. And that’s better.

“If you don’t mind. I didn’t know it would be like that, but I didn’t mind you being there. It helped a lot, actually.” His eyes meet Louis’s, and it’s hard to look at Louis without thinking of Louis’s hand on his cock, Louis stroking himself all slow and easy.

“We want to help you,” Harry says.

“Glad to,” agrees Niall.

“Of course,” says Liam, but he still seems uneasy. Which is fair. Liam’s the sort of person who likes rules and boundaries and knowing where he stands, and that’s something none of them have right now.

“Look,” says Louis suddenly. “Can we just admit that we all saw each other’s willies last night, and we all kind of liked it, and we all kind of liked touching Zayn’s sexy tentacles too. I feel like this would be easier if we started off from there.”

Liam looks completely mortified, but Niall laughs out loud and says, “I’m in,” then puts his hand out for Zayn to high-five. Which Zayn does.

“They always said I was experimental at school,” says Harry. “I guess they could have meant the sexy tentacle sort.”

“They usually do,” replies Louis, and the two of them leer at each other. Liam at least cracks a smile at that, although he’s still tomato red. Zayn can’t quite believe any of it.

“Did you really like it?” Liam asks Zayn, as though that’s really the issue here.

“It was weird,” says Zayn. “But the touching part was nice.”

“Okay,” says Liam. “Yeah, that wasn’t bad. I never really thought that I…”

He trails off, but they all know what he’s thinking. “Did any of us?” asks Zayn. “I never really thought about liking boys before.”

“I did,” says Harry, and none of them are surprised really, but his smile is just a little sad. “Experimental, remember?”

“I always knew,” says Louis, and that’s not a shock either.

“You made it look easy,” Zayn tells him.

Louis juts his chin out a little defensively. “It’s not always,” he says, and his eyes go hard for a moment. “You know, I’ve always been that kid, at school, the one everyone suspected was a little dodgy. And it’s not easy.”

“Yeah,” says Zayn, “I guess it wouldn’t be.” Louis seems so mostly fearless, unconcerned with what other people think of him, but that must be tiring to keep up.

“I never really thought about it,” says Liam belatedly. “Liking boys. But I don’t mind, with you lot. I just think. I don’t know, maybe it doesn’t matter, but if we’re going to go on like this, and help Zayn with his problem, it’s like. Well, it’s like real sex, isn’t it? It’s like all five of us are…” He shakes his head.

Zayn thinks about what life will be like, moving forward like this, doing these things with each other, and singing together, and trying their bloody hardest to get through to live shows. It sounds like a marriage is what it sounds like, but of course he doesn’t say that. “Like a relationship.”

“Yeah,” says Liam. “Like a relationship.” He looks around at the rest of them, frowning. “I just think we should consider that. That that’s what we’re doing.”

“I’m in,” shrugs Niall. “Whatever you need, Zayn, whatever any of you need, I’m up for it.”

“Good man,” says Louis, nudging Niall’s shoulder with his. “Me too, if that doesn’t go without saying.”

“And me,” adds Harry. “I think, I mean, I hope we’re going to be together as a band for a long time, and that means Zayn’s sexy tentacles are going to be in the band for that long too. If that’s means a few more orgies with all of you, well.”

Liam looks if possible even more alarmed.

“Virgin?” asks Louis, pointing at Liam. Liam nods. “Virgin?” again at Zayn. Zayn nods too. He points to Harry next, then himself. “Not virgin. Not virgin.” He points at Niall then, and his eyes narrow like he’s trying to hazard a guess.

“Not virgin,” Niall replies with a grin.

“Girls or boys?” asks Louis.

“Girls,” says Niall. “Well, a girl. But one is enough, right?”

“Certainly,” says Louis. “Hazza, boys or girls?”

“Just girls, properly. If you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking.”

“What if I’m not thinking what you think I’m thinking?”

“Well, I’ve given a couple of blowjobs.”

“Yeah, I’m thinking what you think I’m thinking.” Louis looks around at them all. “So, that’s the shape of it, lads. If we let this go on, Liam, your first time’s likely going to involve tentacles. Yours too, mate,” he adds, tipping his head at Zayn. “Although you probably expected that by now.”

Liam bites the inside of his lip. “I don’t want to be stupid about this. Or too romantic or anything. I just never really thought it would happen like this.”

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, mate,” Zayn points out. “No one’s going to force you to participate.”

“I know,” says Liam, with a frown that borders on petulant. “But it’s just, the first time…”

“Too romantic,” says Louis, slinging an arm around Liam’s shoulders and pulling him down into a proper cuddle. “You said you didn’t want to be that. My first time was shit. Plenty of them are. But if you want something a little better, I reckon we can give you that too.” He puts his hand on Liam’s cheek, and Liam seems to get what Louis’s going for just the second before Louis kisses him. His eyes go wide and then close, and his lips part before Louis even gets there. He fits their mouths together, and they can all see the flash of Louis’s tongue as he licks at Liam’s lower lip.

It’s gorgeous, it is, Liam rolling Louis under him and kissing him more deeply, taking control of it. Liam’s hand slides into Louis’s hair, and they’re all leaning in close together, watching, and if it keeps up the way it’s going, Liam’s going to lose his virginity right here in the middle of Louis’s bed. Zayn is practically burning with jealousy by the time Louis tugs his head sideways, breaking the kiss.

“Not exactly what I was expecting,” says Louis, giving them all a dazed grin and then nuzzling in to kiss Liam on the cheek.

“I’m full of surprises,” replies Liam, suddenly cheeky, his face still flushed pink. He slides sideways, off Louis and into Niall’s arms.

“That looked like fun,” says Niall, and a second later, Harry is lunging at him, snogging him as Liam dodges out of the way.

Zayn and Louis look at each other, and Louis raises an eyebrow at him. Zayn raises one back. It seems to be all Louis needs to see. He crawls into Zayn’s lap, straddling his thighs, and kisses him. At first he’s gentle, like he was with Liam, but then he’s not, biting at Zayn’s mouth, tugging with his teeth. Zayn’s never thought he’d want someone to be rough with him, but it feels so fucking good when Louis does it, the way he leans into the kiss, his hands squeezing tight on Zayn’s shoulders like they may be the only thing holding him up. Zayn moans, just a little, and Louis pulls him in closer, wrapping his hands in the fabric of Zayn’s t-shirt.

When Zayn pulls back for a deep breath, they’re both panting, and he can feel Louis’s pulse racing under his palm when he strokes along Louis’s jaw. “Good,” says Louis. “So you don’t change into a sea monster just from being turned on.”

“Were you worried about that?” Zayn asks.

“Little bit,” Louis shrugs. “But you are so hard right now, mate, and not a tentacle in sight.” Zayn kisses him again. He grabs at the plush curve of Louis’s arse, drags him in even closer until he can feel the hard line of Louis’s cock against his belly. It makes Louis looks up from under his eyelashes, blue eyes flashing hot, and Zayn rubs his hands over Louis’s bum, around to the muscle of his thighs. “Are you gonna fuck me with your tentacles?” Louis asks, nuzzling the corner of Zayn’s mouth.

And it’s not like the thought hadn’t occurred to Zayn; he may not be worldly, but he’s got the internet. But Louis’s little smile is fucking obscene. Not even scared, or at least not showing it. Zayn is probably fucked in the head in addition to cursed, but he kind of wants that. “Dunno,” he says. “You think I should?”

Louis rocks his hips down again, making Zayn shiver. “I think you can try. S’posed to be learning to control them, aren’t you? You could practice.”

“Oi,” says Niall, tugging the back of Louis’s t-shirt. “No more whispering. No secrets among boybands.”

Louis leans back against Niall’s chest. “Oh, this’ll be good for all of us.”

They go out to the beach again that night, all of them settled down in the sand looking at the water like something ominous, all of them focused on it. Zayn is propped against Harry’s chest, Harry’s fingers carding through his hair. “So what do you reckon, lads?” says Louis. “Shall we get this thing started?”

“How do we start then?” Niall asks. His hand is on Zayn’s thigh, too high up to be entirely proper. Niall’s fingers are plucking at Zayn’s trousers like he wants them off, and it’s tense like it wasn’t last night because they all know what it’ll be like this time. Except it might be even more this time. Zayn might get to put his tentacles inside one of them, or all of them. It’s making him squirm a little just thinking about it. He’s also getting all tingly just looking at the sea in front of them, knowing the claim it has on him now.

“Do you think you have to go all the way under again?” Liam asks. “Or can you do it without?”

“My mum said it would always be easier to do it if I was all the way in the water. Like, to change, I mean. Then after that it doesn’t matter.”

“You scared this time?” Niall asks, stroking along Zayn’s thigh, down and then up again, getting dangerously close to where Zayn’s sporting a semi in his loose trousers.

“Yeah. A bit.” He is. It’s hard not to be, in a circumstance like this, where there’s still so much he doesn’t know and no one else can know either. They’re basically just going to have to test things out until they get it right. And that might be a lot of testing, probably more than they can do in the short span of judges’ houses. Zayn can’t let himself think about not getting through to the live shows now, not when there’s all this other stuff happening, all this stuff besides the group among the five of them. He’s not ready to let go of it, not by any stretch, not when he’s only just found how far the four of them will go to be good friends to him and give him what he needs. “Being scared doesn’t mean I don’t want to though. ‘Cause I do. I definitely do.”

Niall’s hand slips upward to rub at the bulge of Zayn’s dick suddenly, palm cupped over the length of it, and Zayn can’t help the way his hips jostle upward into Niall’s hand. But even as Niall grips him more firmly, Zayn knows he doesn’t want to come like this, not before he’s had a chance to try his tentacles out a little bit more.

“Wait,” he says. “Fuck, Niall. Not yet, yeah? I don’t know what will happen if I come, you know, before.”

Harry leans down towards his ear to whisper, “But isn’t this a time for experimentation?”

“Yeah,” Zayn groans because Niall’s hand on his dick is still holding firm, giving him something to rut against. Which is exactly what he wants, except he doesn’t. Not yet. “But that’s like, a later experiment. I just want to know if I can control them first.”

“Then we’d better get you wet, hadn’t we?” Louis says, reaching over to take Niall’s hand and stop it moving. “Do you want to just wade in and then we’ll yank you out if we have to?”

Zayn frowns. The old, visceral fear of the water is rising up in him again, the tug in his gut and the vertiginous sensation of falling he’d always experienced at the sea as a kid. It’s stupid to be afraid now, since he understands where that feeling comes from, the feeling that he’s compelled to go under. But in a way, it doesn’t help at all because the fear was only halfway rational to start with. He hesitates. “Not sure I want to go in by myself,” he says reluctantly.

“That’s fine,” says Harry immediately. “Want me to go in with you?”

Zayn tips his head back to look at him, catches the corner of a dimpled grin. Harry looks totally at ease with the thought of Zayn and his tentacles clinging to him in the water. But then it’s hard to make Harry look uneasy with anything short of the threat of being kicked off X Factor.

Zayn stands up to strip off his clothes, all of them this time, since last night’s pants ended up shredded somewhere out to sea. Harry does the same, and Louis, Niall, and Liam watch them, not disinterested. When Harry holds out one of his big hands to Zayn, Zayn takes it and squeezes. They’re in this together, and there’s no chance Harry would let him drown even if Zayn physically could. They step into the lapping waves and start walking.

Zayn feels the tingling again, starting from the soles of his feet on up, and he struggles forward when it feels as though his feet have gone entirely to sleep. Harry holds tight to his hand the whole time, pulling Zayn towards the inevitable. When they’re out to waist height, the same way Liam and Zayn were the night before, Harry stops and turns towards him, holding out his other hand for Zayn’s.

They stand facing each other, the small waves bobbing them a little, but the sea is even calmer than it was last night. “You trust me, right?” Harry says, shuffling in a little closer, so their knees are nearly touching and Zayn can see little drops of salt water clinging in Harry’s hair.

“Of course,” says Zayn, and Harry kisses him, his mouth wide and wet, his lips soft against Zayn’s as they part. Harry squeezes his hands as they kiss, and even when Zayn can feel Harry tipping sideways, leaning them both deeper into the water, he doesn’t open his eyes or stop kissing him. He can feel the moment Harry starts to fall for real, and they both go under as the next small wave hits. Zayn accidentally gulps a mouthful of seawater, but he can already feel his body changing, Harry still holding tightly onto him, squeezing his hands as his tentacles sprout. And it’s such a weird feeling, even though he knows it’s coming and can brace for it somewhat, the way the tentacles tear apart from each other, forming this mass that buoys him up in the water even though he doesn’t know how to tell them to do that or anything else yet. He gets his head above water and shakes his hair out of his eyes, sees Harry doing the same, although there’s significantly more of Harry’s hair than there is of Zayn’s.

The feeling of his tentacles under the water, snaking around Harry’s ankles, is still strange and a little upsetting. “All right?” he asks.

Harry nods, and his grin flashes out again. “Bloody weird,” Harry says. “But cool too. Are you trying to make that one move like that?”

One of Zayn’s tentacles is sliding up the back of Harry’s thigh, and he focuses on stopping it, on making just that one go still. It’s a bit like any other unused muscle, he finds. He flexes it, draws it back, and he can feel the way the tip curls in, the slide of slick muscle against itself. Harry takes a deep breath. “You don’t have to stop touching me,” he says, like Zayn’s tentacle crawling up his thigh was something he wanted, something he might even ask for. It’s crazy, but Zayn goes with it, pushes a little and makes the tentacle wriggle against Harry again. Harry gasps, and Zayn looks over to see the other boys crowded at the edge of the beach.

It’s different, feeling Harry’s skin, the slide of his tentacles along it, all this new information to process. Zayn’s still all tingly, and his tentacles seem to be waving and swirling without him even telling them to. He concentrates on the one at the back of Harry’s thigh, on making it curve around Harry’s arse, the tip dipping boldly between his thighs. Harry gasps as it slithers against his balls, the soft skin behind. Now that Louis’s put it in his head, all he can think of is fucking someone, of how it would feel to slide inside one of them like this. “What does it feel like for you?” Zayn asks, as the tip of the tentacle between Harry’s legs pats at the base of Harry’s cock.

“Smooth,” says Harry, shifting his feet in the sand. “Slippery. Good.”

Zayn wraps the tip of his tentacle around Harry’s cock, feels the rest of them curling too and closes his eyes, trying to focus on just the one that’s touching Harry, on making it move like he wants, on the weight of Harry’s cock wrapped up in it. The tentacles aren’t as overwhelmingly arousing in the water; just moving them doesn’t make Zayn feel like he’s going to come, so he can concentrate more on how to use them. And right now he wants to feel out the length of Harry’s cock, wrap it up and squeeze gently around the shaft. He’s clumsy, but gripping onto Harry helps him focus, Harry leaning into him and moaning softly.

There’s splashing beside them, and Zayn glances up to see Louis, Niall, and Liam wading out into the water as well, all their eyes on Harry and Zayn. When they get close enough, Louis reaches out and sweeps a hand down Zayn’s side, stroking the spot where his body changes, tracing over the tops of his tentacles, the thin flesh between them, which feels almost ticklish. 

“We were getting lonesome without you lads,” Louis says. “Didn’t want to be left out.” He feels his way down between them until he reaches where Zayn’s touching Harry’s cock. 

“Ah,” he says, like this is a great discovery. Harry’s eyes slide shut as Louis rubs his finger along the curve of Zayn’s tentacle and Harry’s cock. “Think you could do the rest of us like this?”

“Dunno,” says Zayn. It’ll be a lot of coordination, he thinks, but then again, that’s what he’s supposed to be learning, how to control the tentacles, how to make them do what he wants. And what he wants is to touch the other lads, make them come. He reaches out with another of his tentacles, wraps it around Louis’s thighs, drawing him in tight. Louis’s staring at him, mouth opening into a sly grin.

Liam walks up behind him, quiet, settling himself against Zayn’s back as the water rocks them all together. Niall takes up his other side, and Zayn closes his eyes, concentrates on moving his tentacles one by one, sliding them over the other boys’ legs, feeling them shiver in the cool water. They feel so warm to him, all their skin against the smooth muscle of his tentacles. He lets the one around Louis’s thighs shift up, shape itself around the round of his arse.

“Have you got suckers?” Niall asks, touching the tentacle wrapped around his waist, running his fingers along the underside. Zayn gives a little groan.

“Don’t think so,” he says, as Niall’s fingers keep moving, feeling the texture of Zayn’s flesh, making little circles.

“Couldn’t tell last night,” Niall adds thoughtfully. “Doesn’t seem like you do. There are little bumps, but I don’t think they suck.”

“I bet they don’t suck,” Louis replies. “I bet they feel pretty great. What do you say, Hazza?”

“Good, definitely,” says Harry distractedly. Zayn flexes around his cock a little, makes him moan again.

It takes a while, but then Zayn’s got each of their cocks wrapped up in his tentacles, squeezing them all in turn, leaning into open-mouthed kisses, turning his head to bite at Liam’s lip.

“What are you like underneath?” Louis asks, sliding one hand up between all of Zayn’s wriggling tentacles, finding even more sensitive flesh. Zayn swears into Niall’s mouth and looks down, but he can’t see anything through the water and the tangle of their bodies. “Does that hurt?” Louis asks, and retreats a little. “Or is it good? Is this how you come?”

Zayn doesn’t know, and can’t possibly, but he doesn’t want Louis to stop touching him, rubbing against him down below, towards a center he didn’t know he had. “Good,” he says, and tightens down on all of them, squeezing and pulling at them, his free tentacles waving in the water.

Liam reaches down suddenly to touch the tentacle gripping him. “I think it’s getting more slippery,” he says.

Louis nods, pulls his hand up out of the water, and Zayn whimpers at the loss. He rubs his fingers together, and they can all see something dark between them. “Ink?” Louis says. “Maybe?” He looks thoughtfully at his hand. “Guess I know what we’ll do for lube.”

Liam squeaks, and Louis winks at him.

“Maybe not tonight, eh?” says Niall, but Zayn lets one of his unoccupied tentacles drift up between the cheeks of Louis’s arse, into his tight crack, the tip wriggling, looking for a way in. Louis’s cock twitches in Zayn’s grip, and Louis looks him straight in the eye.

“Do it,” says Louis. The other lads stare, open mouthed. “Fuck me with it.”

Zayn bites his lip, wiggles the tip of his tentacle right up against Louis’s hole, feeling the give of it, knowing that he could, that Louis would open up for him. “Is that a good idea?” says Liam, in a high, worried voice.

Louis is still just looking at Zayn. “I think it’s a good idea. I think it’s the best bloody idea ever.” He’s fearless, eager, and Zayn is so turned on by Louis’s confidence, feels new excitement buzzing through him. He presses a little at Louis’s hole, pushes just the slightest bit inside, and Louis bites his lip, his hips pressing forward, rubbing the tip of his cock against Zayn’s hip, seeking friction. “Like that,” Louis says. “Slow. Just like that.”

Zayn wriggles in a little further, and that’s when he can feel the shocking heat of Louis’s body, Louis’s insides just opening up for him.

“Is he…” Niall asks.

“Yeah,” Louis sighs. “He is.”

Zayn squeezes all of them, works deeper into Louis’s hole, wonders if it would feel like this around his cock, this hot and tight but god, easy. Louis is so easy for him. Harry’s breath goes uneven and wet, loud even over the rush of the sea, and Zayn gives a slow stroke up the length of his cock, makes Harry cry out and come.

Niall ducks around Zayn’s shoulder to get a better look at Louis’s face. “Fuck,” he says. “What’s it like, Lou?”

“Not enough,” Louis replies, pointed, and Zayn stuffs his tentacle more deeply into Louis’s arse. He doesn’t know how far he can go, how deep Louis can take him. Zayn’s tentacles flex and stretch around all of them, and Harry makes a small, choked noise.

“Er, could you maybe let go?” he says, and Zayn slips his tentacle from around Harry’s softening cock, wrapping it around his waist instead. Harry pats at it in a friendly way, offers up a sheepish grin. “Don’t usually come like that.”

“You’re young yet,” Louis says, but his voice is shaky and high, the tip of Zayn’s tentacle twirling inside him, wriggling in the heat of his body. Zayn curls it inside him, presses inward a little more and makes Louis moan.

Liam’s hips are thrusting helplessly into the tentacle Zayn’s got wrapped round his cock, and he’s whimpering breathlessly at the back of Zayn’s neck, very quiet. “You like this, don’t you, Liam?” Louis says, resting his chin against Zayn’s shoulder and working his hips lazily. “It’s weird and dirty, but you kind of want Zayn to fuck you too.”

Liam stutters something none of them can understand, and his hips pitch forward as he comes, Zayn squeezing around him, his tentacle smoothing up the length of Liam’s pulsing cock. “Oh,” says Liam, and Louis kisses him on the cheek over Zayn’s shoulder.

“Just us then,” says Niall, and Louis reaches out to touch his belly, rub his fingers down over the head of Niall’s cock, the slick curve of Zayn’s tentacle around it. Zayn’s been focusing on all of them, his own need a low background hum, but now Louis’s stroking over Niall’s cock and Zayn’s tentacle, cupping his small hand around both and rubbing like it’s any other handjob. Zayn pumps into Louis’s arse, flexing the length of tentacle inside him, wanting to push deeper, fill him up more, but scared too. He doesn’t want to hurt Louis, doesn’t want him to feel anything but good.

Niall’s watching Louis’s face as Louis is fucked and stroked and stroking, and his eyes are dark and wide. “You could fuck me,” Niall says quietly. “Think I’d like that.”

Louis groans and twists his hand on Niall’s cock. “Yeah,” he pants. “Zayn, do it.”

“You sure, Nialler?” Zayn says, but he’s already dragging a tentacle along Niall’s crack, putting a hand on the small of his back to drag him in closer. “You haven’t done this before, have you?”

“Stuck my finger up there a time or two,” Niall replies. Zayn’s tentacle tickles at his hole, and he can feel Louis getting even harder on his other side, his cock fattening up even more in Zayn’s grip. Harry is staring at Niall, and Zayn can see his arm moving underwater, like he’s probably stroking himself hard again.

Niall tucks the tip of a tentacle into Niall’s arse, and Niall makes an uncertain little noise. “All right?” says Zayn.

“Yeah, do it.”

He’s more practiced now, knows how to work Niall open slow, curl up the tip of his tentacle to rub him inside. He starts thrusting into both of them in the same rhythm, and Niall gets loud about it, groaning and swearing as Zayn fucks him, rocking his hips to take more. He’s tighter than Louis, not used to opening up like this, but Zayn can work into him just as deep, fill him up just as full. It’s weird, the contrast of it, the two of them so hot around him, the rest of his tentacles floating in the cool water. Harry presses up close in front of him, slides his hands down Zayn’s sides, rubbing over the changing flesh where the tentacles start, down over the base of them, and then underneath where Louis’s fingers had been before. He works his fingers into Zayn’s sensitive underbelly, massaging and stroking and making Zayn feel so, so good suddenly. The water is washing over him, and he feels like he’s opening, spreading wider for Harry’s hands, his tentacles stretching and curling around all of them, letting them anchor him.

Zayn knows he must been squeezing Niall and Louis too tight, but he can’t control it, can barely remember how to breathe. He pushes deeper into them, and Niall cries out, coming, his hole clutching at Zayn as he shoots. Louis’s still rocking into him, his breath going short, but he’s close, leaning in to kiss Zayn’s mouth, sloppy and full of grazing teeth. “Come on, Lou,” says Harry, and Zayn feels Liam’s fingers press curiously at Louis’s stuffed hole, the tentacle pressing into him. Louis moans and rocks forward, and then he’s done too, and Zayn pulls out of both of them, stretching his tentacles out full length again in the water.

“Are you going to come?” Harry asks Zayn. “Do you think you can come?” his fingertips press and rub, and Zayn knows he can, knows the tension filling him up has to release somehow. 

“Yeah,” he says, and all their hands are on him then, stroking him, and it’s so much sensation, more than he can take. He cries out and feels his tentacles punch outward, go stiff in the water suddenly, jerking like they’ll propel him out of the water completely.

“Jesus Christ,” says Niall, while Zayn’s still shaking and trying to breathe, feeling opened up and oversensitive, everything magnified.

“That’s a lot of ink,” says Harry, and when Zayn opens his eyes, even he can see it in the moonlight, the tendrils of ink in the water, rushing towards shore with the small waves. He leans back into Liam’s arms, lets Liam hold him up.

“I guess we know what happens when you come now,” says Louis.

“I’m glad we didn’t try this a bathtub or something,” says Liam.

“A bathtub?” says Niall incredulously.

“Well, yeah,” replies Liam, flustered. “I figured we might want to experiment someplace we could see each other, sometime.”

Zayn thinks about the tiny bathtubs in their bathrooms and can’t imagine how his tentacles would even fit. The image is so ridiculous that he laughs, suddenly, tries to describe it to the others, and then they’re laughing too, leaning into each other, tangled up in a wet cuddle, Zayn’s tentacles curling around their ankles.

They sneak out every night, and Zayn wonders why no one’s noticed yet, what all the other contestants are getting up to while they’re off splashing around and making each other come. He’s learning to control his tentacles more and more, and by the fourth night, he’s realized it feels almost natural, stroking the boys with them, wrapping them up tight and patting at their bodies. And fucking them. He fucks all of them, learning what they like: going slow and gentle with Liam, steady and deep with Niall, and faster and rougher with Harry, stuffing two tentacles at once into Louis and making him come almost immediately.

It’s a good way to take their minds off everything else that’s happening, the knowledge that in a few days they’re either going to make the cut or not, that their entire future hinges on this one last audition. They sing together when they’re not fucking, surer of each other now, shoring each other up in every harmony. They sound good, Zayn thinks, but he can’t know whether they’re good enough. And the days keep counting down, until it’s the night before they have to sing for the judges, and “Torn” is running through all their heads on a constant loop.

Zayn’s glad that Louis steps on the sea urchin before they’re deep enough in the water that he’s changed. He can change back without getting dry now, but it’s harder, and when Louis cries out and drops, Zayn’s glad he can run to catch him. “Something bit me,” he gasps, clutching at Zayn’s arms. “Jesus Christ. Be careful.” Zayn doesn’t care about being careful though. He drags Louis up the beach, props up his foot to look at the streaming blood. Liam’s already pulling his shorts back on, running in the direction of the hotel.

“Get your clothes on,” he calls over his shoulder. “I’ll go for help.” He doesn’t say a word about getting them in trouble because it doesn’t matter now.

“Looks like maybe a sea urchin,” says Harry, kneeling beside Zayn.

“Are they venomous?” asks Niall, and Louis says, “Fuck,” choking it out against his own shoulder.

“I don’t think people die from them or anything, so they can’t be that bad,” Harry says, but it’s pretty cold comfort.

Louis might actually be crying. “We have to sing tomorrow,” he reminds them, and they all look at each other. There’s nothing else to say.

Liam comes running back with someone carrying a first aid kit, but they all know Louis needs more than a plaster. As they watch him loaded into a car to the hospital, Niall squeezes Zayn’s hand and Zayn squeezes back, and they’re all promising each other it’ll be fine, that they’ll all be ready to sing in the morning, that everything will be fine. But none of them can possibly know that.

Louis can barely walk when he gets back in the morning, and he’s loopy on whatever they gave him for the pain, giggly and easily distracted. But they all take turns holding him up, letting him lean into them. “I’m sorry,” he says into Harry’s neck.

They all shake their heads. “Don’t be, mate,” says Niall. “We’re still going to smash it.”

And they don’t, really; Zayn can hear every off note too clearly, knows how much better they sounded yesterday. He’s ready for failure, braced to be told no and have to go back to his normal life. But that’s not what happens, and there’s a moment of shocked disbelief before they all fall into a massive hug. They’re going forward, and the whole country will be watching what happens next.

Now that they’ve been told off for sneaking out and letting Louis get hurt, they can’t go down to the beach again, so that night they all pile together on Louis’s bed instead. None of them can stop grinning, and Zayn is so proud and happy and relieved that this isn’t over yet. But he’s also horny as hell, plastered against Louis’s side, his half-hard dick nudging Louis’s thigh. “We could have normal human sex,” Louis offers, shifting his leg against Zayn’s crotch.

“Haven’t done that before,” Zayn realizes, and that shouldn’t be weird at this point, but it kind of is, the fact that he still hasn’t had sex that actually involved his dick in any way.

“You got four lads here who’d love to help change that,” Niall points out, kissing the side of Zayn’s neck.

“We like you human too,” says Harry.

“Not just in it for the tentacles,” agrees Liam.

Louis puts a hand on Zayn’s hip, sliding his fingers under the waist of Zayn’s jeans. “Any of us would be glad to fuck you.”

“If you’d like that,” Niall says.

Zayn grinds back into him a little. “Reckon I would.”

“Quick,” says Louis. “Rock paper scissors for Zayn’s arse.” He holds up his hand.

“Don’t objectify me,” says Zayn, but he can’t help grinning. It shouldn’t be this easy, asking for it, but it is by now. “You could do it,” he says, and Louis squeezes his arse and nods.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” he says, leaning in to kiss Zayn’s mouth, slow and deep.

Zayn kisses him back, tucking one of his thighs between Louis’s. Everyone else is watching, but it doesn’t matter. He can have them later. He can ask for whatever he wants.

When Louis pushes into him for the first time, he’s slick for it, open enough that it doesn’t hurt, feels full and hot and like nothing else. “All right?” asks Niall.

Zayn’s laid out on his side, Niall in front of him stroking his dick as Louis presses deep into his arse. “Yeah,” Zayn says, reaching out to kiss Niall. Harry and Liam are tucked up against the headboard together, and it’s strange to do this with the lights on, without the sea lapping at his skin, without all four of them dividing his attention. But he feels good, as Louis moves in him, breathing against the back of his neck, palming at his hips. He knows he’s close even before Niall slides down and takes the head of Zayn’s cock into his mouth. He cries out and tries to keep still as Niall sucks him, clenching down tight on Louis’s cock. Louis gasps. “Shit, Niall, keep doing that.”

They work him between them until Zayn can’t even think, can’t warn Niall before he comes. Niall doesn’t back off though, just swallows around him as Louis keeps pounding away at his arse. Zayn leans back into him, relaxing and letting him in deep as Louis comes.

He’s sleepy and slow after, letting them all curl around him, pull him into the center of a cuddle. “Human sex is pretty great too, eh?” says Harry, nuzzling at Zayn’s shoulder.

“So great,” murmurs Zayn. “Thanks, lads.” He thinks for a moment. “For everything.” He means the sex and the tentacles and the competition, the massive things they’ve achieved together already. But also everything that’s still to come.


End file.
